Kota Kinabalu: Sabah continues to experience power disruptions despite the Federal Government already spending more than RM1 billion to improve electricity supply in the State.
Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui blamed this on lack of investment as many of the power generating plants in the State are still using old generator sets, which are not only inefficient but costly to maintain.
He said this was why the Government has been advocating the change from the old system of diesel medium fuel oil (MFO) to either gas or coal.
"In the case of the east coast of Sabah, we are proposing coal which is more efficient and lest costly," he told a media conference after the officiating of a Seminar and Mega Expo on Energy Efficiency by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman at 1Borneo, Friday.
Earlier, Chin and Musa witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) and SPR Energy Sdn Bhd at 1Borneo.
He said if there is no investment several years ahead, a similar situation as what occurred last year where there was a major blackout statewide, would happen again.
Nevertheless, he said the government and private sector are catching up as more investments are being poured into the industry.
He said the government is doing all it can to prevent a similar situation recurring.
According to him, the power supply problem faced by Sabah is caused by three aspects, namely, generation, transfer and distribution of power from power sources in the West Coast and East Coast.
He said 49 per cent of the electricity supply in Sabah is generated by small power plants that are using diesel to run. Most of the power generating facilities are already more than 20 years old and not reliable nor economic.
The Government subsidised RM1.72 billion to the SESB from 2006 until last year for diesel and MFO.
So, to overcome the problem, Chin said the Government approved several power generation projects such as the 190MW Ranhill Powertron II, 100MW SPR Energy Sdn Bhd and Petronas/Yayasan Sabah 300MW power plants.
"The projects are all gas-based and located in the West Coast," he said.
The Government also, he said, proposed the 300MW coal-fired power plant in Lahad Datu to ensure adequate and reliable power supply in the East Coast. He insisted that the use of coal as fuel to run the electricity plant is the best option.
To counter the problem of irregular power supply in the short term, the Government has allocated RM78 million to SESB to enable it to purchase 60MW mobile generator sets with 20MW placed in the West Coast and the remainder in the East Coast.
Apart from that, the Government also provided financial assistance of RM48m to the SESB for the maintenance of the mobile generator sets and for their operations.
However, the short term measures are not adequate and SESB has been ordered to speed up repairs on the present generator sets including the use of air transport to deliver its components and spare parts.
"The SESB managed to regenerate 115 megawatt of electricity since October 2009 and is expected to generate another 16.5 megawatt this year," he said.
The completion of the short term project on the 190MW Ranhill Powertron II in October this year would improve power supply security in Sabah.
On other developments, Chin said the Government has allocated RM803m in easy loan schemes under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP) for the construction of transfer and distribution of power projects in Sabah.
Of the amount, RM426.6m has been spent up to last year with physical work completion at 85 per cent. There are eight transfer projects under the 9MP that include, among others, the upgrading system of transfer in Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan and Tawau and connection of East-West Grid project.
As at end of last year, 93 per cent of the projects had been completed.
On power distribution, he said there are three projects namely the reinforcement of distribution system in Sabah, Labuan and Kota Kinabalu and 33kV-installation project that are already 91.5 per cent complete.
Meanwhile, Chin said all the assistance and support given by the government to the SESB would be meaningless if the quality of services rendered do not fulfil the aspiration and needs of the customers.
"The SESB needs to do a lot more to ensure that electricity supply in Sabah is reliable," he said.
Among them is to ensure the projects and planning are implemented according to schedule.
He said parent company Tenaga Nasional Berhad has been ordered to loan its technical officers to assist the SESB in the planning, implementation and monitoring of electricity supply projects in the State.
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